Document text
Environmentalists downgrade Mt. Ashland By BILL KETTLER Plans to build new ski trails on Mount Ashland don't sit well with an environmental group that rates ski areas for their environmentally friendliness. The Colorado-based Ski Area Citizens' Coalition gave Southern Oregon's publicly-owned ski area a "C" grade after evaluating its performance in 12 areas such as expansion plans, real estate development, and efforts to protect wetlands and endangered species. Ski Ashland manager Jeff Hanson said the coalition's rating system lacks credibility. "They've said they want to encourage the highest environmental standards," Hanson said. "But they're also said things that are very hostile to (having) any ski areas on National Forest land." The Mount Ashland ski area originally earned a "B" when the ratings were published last November. Ben Doon, who compiled the data, said the ski area was downgraded because new information about the environmental impacts of a proposed 71-acre expansion surfaced in U.S. Forest Service studies. The coalition also used information from Southern Oregon environmental groups such as Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center to mark down Ski Ashland on issues such as erosion control and disturbing undeveloped forest land. Ski Ashland originally scored 71 percent when the ratings were announced in November 2000. The score was reduced to 69 percent several days later, which still earned a "B." The latest revisions give the ski area 103 of a possible 194 points. It would have needed 60 percent (117 points) to retain a "B." The Rogue River National Forest is presently rewriting the draft environmental impact statement for the proposed expansion. Hanson said the new draft environmental impact statement is scheduled to appear sometime in late winter or early spring, and a final decision on the plan is expected by summer. Ski Ashland must have Forest Service approval to expand because it operates on National Forest land. Doon said ski area expansion is an important issue because ski areas seem to be expanding faster than the market is growing, and undeveloped forest land often suffers when new ski trails are built. He said areas such as Ski Ashland, which are surrounded by undeveloped public land, face more opposition than areas that can expand on adjacent private land, which has often already been logged. "Ski areas adjacent to roadless areas are between a rock and a hard place," he said. "They have to be more sensitive to their undisturbed land." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.